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Sunday, 7 May 2017

Automation poses a high risk to 1.2m Scottish jobs, report says

Nearly half of Scottish jobs could be carried out by machines in just over 10 years' time, a report has warned.

The Institute for Public Policy Research Scotland said 46% of jobs - about 1.2 million - were at "high risk" of automation in the period up to 2030.

The think tank's research says that, by then, adults are "more likely to be working longer, and will often have multiple jobs".

It said skills qualifications "should be reviewed".

IPPR Scotland said changes were needed so people could get more training and career support when they were midway through their working life.

The think tank wants to see the establishment of an Open Institute of Technology to achieve this, saying this could bring about "improved rates of career progression, pay and productivity, starting in low-skill sectors".

It also recommends the establishment of a new unit to tackle what it calls the "progression gap" - poor levels of career progression which can hold back low-skilled workers.